Academic Coaching in a Nutshell

Liberty Anderson, staff writer

Academic coaching is giving students the skills that they need to succeed in college. Unlike tutoring, it is not focused on a single subject. Academic coaching focuses on the general skills students need to get through college and life, such as time management, note taking, priority management, and exam preparation. This free service is provided in the Writing Center at PVCC.

With academic coaching, students meet with their coach once a week so they can get to know each other and individual struggles to best help the individual. Having a coach is a way to know the staff and have someone else on your side. Meeting each week helps to make it about personal struggles and goals.

Academic coaching helps to build confidence. It gives students someone who will hold them accountable. Academic coaching is helpful because not only does it provide methods to reach your goals, these methods are “constantly adjusted to be tailored to the students needs,” according to Adjunct Instructor and Academic Coach Ruth Yoder.

Students are more likely to reach their goals if they are constantly changing their approach to find the most effective way for them as an individual. Each coach knows what their students are working towards and what they have already tried, so that they can help them find the best way.

The students have someone to listen and understand them and help them through their struggles. The student has their coach, to talk things through, to suggest solutions, and to help find better methods. The coaching will help students to improve if they strive to. The student will not achieve their goal unless they put in the effort to succeed.

Students meet with their coaches in the Writing Center.

You can stop by the Writing Center between 9 a.m. and 7 p.m. Monday through Thursday, or between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. on Fridays. You can also call 434-961-5499 to set up your first coaching session.